More Colors and Snakes in Class by Steve McCrea

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The Visual and Active Teaching Method can be described as a set of techniques (supported by psychological studies) that enhance learning. This article focuses on the role of adrenalin in creating long-term memories.
Steve McCrea, teacher, certified to teach Adults with the CELTA certification, author of Fix Your School and other educational books. Write with suggestions and comments to TheEbookMan@gmail.com Steve will travel to Europe in May 2011 to give workshops about "That's Edu-tainment" and other Visual and Active Teaching methods. Contact Steve at SteveEnglishTeacher on Skype or call +1 954 646 8246 to bring his talk to your school. In USA, workshops are available year round. This chart can be printed and used in classrooms

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The Visual and Active Teaching Method can be described as a set of techniques (supported by psychological studies) that enhance learning. This article focuses on the role of adrenalin in creating long-term memories.
Steve McCrea, teacher, certified to teach Adults with the CELTA certification, author of Fix Your School and other educational books. Write with suggestions and comments to TheEbookMan@gmail.com Steve will travel to Europe in May 2011 to give workshops about "That's Edu-tainment" and other Visual and Active Teaching methods. Contact Steve at SteveEnglishTeacher on Skype or call +1 954 646 8246 to bring his talk to your school. In USA, workshops are available year round. This chart can be printed and used in classrooms

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More Colors and Snakes in Class by Steve McCrea

Uploaded by

Description:

The Visual and Active Teaching Method can be described as a set of techniques (supported by psychological studies) that enhance learning. This article focuses on the role of adrenalin in creating long-term memories.
Steve McCrea, teacher, certified to teach Adults with the CELTA certification, author of Fix Your School and other educational books. Write with suggestions and comments to TheEbookMan@gmail.com Steve will travel to Europe in May 2011 to give workshops about "That's Edu-tainment" and other Visual and Active Teaching methods. Contact Steve at SteveEnglishTeacher on Skype or call +1 954 646 8246 to bring his talk to your school. In USA, workshops are available year round. This chart can be printed and used in classrooms

More Colors

and Snakes in the Classroom A Visual and Active Method of TeachingSteve McCreaRecommended: a visual approach to pronunciationPronunciationPatterns.comFreeEnglishLessons.comVisualAndActive.com

VisualandActive.com Method -1- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

Hello. I’m a five different careers) and flexible teacher of networking skills? English as a second We know that there are many ways language. I also of learning teach teenagers Howard Gardner and Multiplehow to improve their score on the IntelligencesSAT, a college entrance exam. Ithink about “How do we make mathand vocabulary come alive for thesestudents?” As teachers, we need tomake this stuff more appealing tomore students because we needmore engineers and consumers whounderstand basic physical andchemical laws.

Perhaps you have heard about these

topics: Perhaps you have heard that it is aBlink by Malcolm Gladwell good idea to learn in a small school(sometimes the first impression is (see Dennis Littky Education isright and our intellectual analysis Everybody’s Business and theoverwhelms the intuition, leading us initiative by Bill and Melinda Gatesto negative situations) Foundation to subdivide largeA Whole New Mind by Dan Pink schools, FindASmallschool.com)and Free Agent Nation. The ideasare that we need more “right brain” The issues are about where studentsthinking (which looks at the whole learn, how they learn and what theysituation) and less focus on should be learning. Who shouldefficiency (to the exclusion of teach them? Dennis Littky says,beautify). Since more people will be “Mentors.”working for themselves, free agentsneed training on how to cometogether to work on projects (in theHollywood movie making process).Projects will take place, not jobs.People will deliver services and thenleave. Are we preparing ourstudents for the uncertain, fast-changing workplace that demandsmore than a solid resume and goodacademic scores? Are we instillingthe discipline of self-teaching (mostpeople will have to train for at least

VisualandActive.com Method -2- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

The Breakthrough making of a rat memory – in thiscollaborative.org recommends case how a rat who's never been inslightly older peers. this tank of water before learns how to find a clear plastic platformNow let’s put more information on just below the surface.top of this long list ofrecommendations: according to "He’ll swim around randomly,"recent studies, we need to bring McGaugh explains. The rat cannotmore color, action and positive see the platform, since his eyes arestress into the classroom. on the top of his head.

Did you hear about the adrenaline The rat will swim around the edgeexperiment? What role does for a long time, until eventually he ventures out and by chance bumpsexcitement play in helping us into the platform. The next day,remember new information? he'll find the platform a little bit faster.

Here’s a quote from a 60 Minutes report

Adrenaline makes memories. But another rat, who had learnedHow can we use this where the platform was the dayinformation? prior, and then received a shot ofThe story begins with some adrenaline immediately afterwards,surprising discoveries about today swam instantly to thememory. It turns out our memories platform.are sort of like Jello – they taketime to solidify in our brains. And Adrenaline actually made this rat'swhile they're setting, it's possible brain remember better, andto make them stronger or weaker. McGaugh believes the same thingIt all depends on the stress happens in people. "Suppose I saidhormone adrenaline. to you, 'You know, I've watched your programs a lot over the years,The man who discovered this is and although it pains me to haveJames McGaugh, a professor of to tell you this, I think you're oneneurobiology at the University of of worst people I've ever seen on …California, Irvine. now don't take it, don't take it personally,'" McGaugh says.McGaugh studies memory in rats,and he invited Stahl to watch the

VisualandActive.com Method -3- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

"So, my stress system would go substitute. The director of studies isinto overdrive, no question," Stahl often surprised at the amount of stuffsays. that I bring into a classroom. Here is a typical list:"Even with my telling you that it'snot true, there's nothing to keep Stuffed animalsyou from blushing, from feeling Large picture books (dogs, places towarm all over," McGaugh points visit, food, profiles of countries, atlas,out. "That's the adrenaline. And I different types of atlases), comic books,dare say that you're gonna DVDs and CDs showing studentsremember my having said that expressing a variety of opinionslong after you've forgotten the Pronunciation CDsother details of our discussion Video camera, tripodhere. I guarantee it." Small rewards (bouncing balls sold ten for $2, pens with web site addresses, particular snopes.com and number2.com) Colored papers, colored pens, post-it notes, rulers (yard stick) scissors, newspapers, glue and tape to put papers on the walls, wide tipped markers.

Phew. And then the director of

studies wonders why I request a color to leave this stuff so that I don’t have to carry it back to my car at the end of the day.McGaugh says that’s why weremember important andemotional events in our livesmore than regular day-to-dayexperiences.

AH! Now I know how to

get someone to REALLYlearn grammar! Weneed snakes, vampiresand ghosts in the This pamphlet is a draft,, a work in progress, but it is urgently needed asclassroom. a manifesto for parents and students who have learning differences. If your kid needs more stimulation inSuggested Materials class, here’s one way to buildI have collected these procedures support for the idea that schoolsbecause I am sometimes asked to need a variety of ways of teachingteach in a new school as a

VisualandActive.com Method -4- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

and some of those methods of evaluate both student and teacher.teaching require more space for Stand up presentations are used sostoring materials that can be useful. that students who dislike writing can use a larger vocabulary. (I testedA more radical notion is “If a teacher this. I asked several boys to write adoes not employ things to help the page about their recent vacation.visual learner and the student who Most didn’t cover half a page. Butneeds higher stimulation, should that when I asked them to tell me aboutteacher go through training?” What their vacation, I had a hard timeis the point of going to workshops stopping them. The presentationsabout multiple ways of learning if the were sequential and well-organizedteacher does not change the method while many of the writtenof delivery? If a teacher refuses to presentations jumped from topic tobring a video camera into the topic without smooth transitions. Ifclassroom, is it possible to allow you teach young boys, considerstudents to make videotapes of introducing video testing as ansegments of class? What are the alternative or supplement to therights of students who have an ability typical written essay.for learning through later listening”?

I am not an attorney, so I will leave

these matters to better informedanalysts. As a teacher in the frontline, where I deliver lessons tostudents, I have observed that thefocus is often on “Did the teacherpresent the information clearly”(show me your lesson plan) when inreality, the focus should be on thestudent. Did the teacher give eachstudent an opportunity to express or PRINCIPLESperform his understanding of the I will conclude this presentation withmaterial? The teacher can lecture a list of principles that I’ve compiledbeautifully and even pass out a DVD to attempt to inform a (choose one)to every student, but the visual and flustered, annoyed, perplexedactive method requires the teacher director of studies: “Why is this roomto listen to each student perform so messy? Why do you need thistheir understanding of the process. stuff in here? Why can’t you teachThis is why at least every 9 weeks in without all these things?” In short, Ithe Met Center, an innovative school could read the question in his eyes,in Providence, Rhode Island, every “Why can’t you be like the otherstudent gives a formal presentation teachers?” (Yes, there are usuallythat is video recorded. The student complaints from some students whocan analyze the performance, the claim that the materials make theteacher can see what has been classroom look like a children’s playomitted and the administrator can room.),

VisualandActive.com Method -5- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

The following principles are presented in an effort to build an army of colleagues. I want to be part of the majority who use visual and active techniques. I want to hand out a brochure to parents that persuades and wins over new supporters of this method. If you have additional points or suggestions on how I can reformat this presentation, let me know.

What would Cary say? A workshop for

Experienced ESOL TeachersWhen I first taught English for speakers of other languages, I believedthat the purpose of my presence in the classroom was to speak a lot(slowly) so that students would catch on to what I was saying andbuild vocabulary the way a two-year-old picks up words by watchingdad clean the house.

Oops. After watching Cary Elcome and after taking the RSA CELTAcourse, I learned what we all know -- the language learning takesplace inside the student, not in the classroom. Here are some tips thatI think Cary would tell you if he were here and if he weren't modest.

1. Share your techniques. Cary was generous to me and often

asked if I'd like to sit in and participate in a private lesson or in anafternoon class so I could pick up tips from him and he could watchme and pick up tips.

2. Video record your lessons at least twice a year and analyze yourmethod. Cary used to record the audio of his lessons and hand out thecassette to students who wanted a dictation.

3. Call them anything except students. Participants, learners and

colleagues were his favorite terms. "A student is so clearly beneath ateacher that some students never get over the humiliation."

4. Give them errors. Let the learners find the solution. He loves gap-fills (fill in the blank) and he

VisualandActive.com Method -6- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

5. Develop incurable chronic laryngitis. TTT. I can't be said enough.Keep Teacher Talking Time to the minimum.

6. Put a bunch of materials together. Cary used to give away scads

of photocopies. I think he knocked down two entire forests inWashington State to supply his materials to his learners. And these areHIS materials, all created using big and small fonts.

7. Go visual. He LOVES visual techniques. He puts a photo on every

worksheet. He brings in photos from his latest travel and asksstudents to write questions to go with each photo.

8. Get the NY Times. Even with beginners. He believes that students

who are advanced have less opportunity to learn than beginners andso all students should be exposed to real English found in newspapers,free (New Times and City Link) as well as the major papers on theInternet.

9. Stay current with the learners. Find out about their music. Usetheir lyrics in the classroom.

VisualandActive.com Method -7- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

10. Cross-pollinate. When possible, send a student from your class into Cary's class. That student will be peppered with questions by the class. Then Cary will send a student from his class and they will pepper another student. Or take half or your class and send them to Cary and he'll send half of his class and send them to you. "It's great, he says, "That's facilitating!" He believes in monitoring by walking around with pen and paper and requiring pairs to make a written record of some of the topics that they discussed.

11. Make use of the people in the room. Of course ask learners toread the instructions in the book or to begin the day with "What's thenews in your country?" Cary looks up articles so that the busy learner(who hasn't had time to find a juicy piece of news) can say somethinginteresting, perhaps about the growing and persistent market formanatee meat in Venezuela.

12. Make use of the people in the school. He annoys

administrative staff by asking students to go out and get a stapler(even though he has a stapler in the room).

13. Use the people in the community. Cary used to develop

relationships and ask students, "What's the name of the doorman?" orreceptionist or the bus driver.

14. Give away materials. Did we mention this? Do it again. "We

have no idea how much our teaching is done outside the classroom. Ifwe can write something about ourselves, maybe an autobiography oftwo pages, the students who want to can read it and come back withquestions. If you went Venice, talk about it. The Italians will havesomething to talk with you about during the break time."

15. Break time is learning time. Cary arrived early, stayed late, atemeals with students, and met them at least once a week for anevening of talk on Las Olas Blvd, and never spent break time in theteacher's room. He was always interacting with students. "When theyare OUTSIDE the class, that's when the real mistakes emerge," hebelieves.

16. Keep in touch. Cary was an early adopter of email but he wasslow to take on the role of technology guru. He had a laptop but didn'tknow how to make web sites or make a network. He used it to writelessons on his computer and he was an avid explorer of the Internet.

VisualandActive.com Method -8- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

He wasn't afraid to ask for directions. Unlike a typical guy, he would start bysaying he knew very little about something and send a lot of emails to getinformation. In other words, he is the perfect mentor for people who areafraid of some aspect of technology. He still gets frustrated with the lack ofcommunication between printer and CPU and he was my role model forbringing technology into the classroom. He might not understand everyaspect of it, but he just knew that someone in the room or in the schoolwould help figure out how to use the darn thing.

I say some of this in the past tense because Cary is no longer with us. He'sin Asia. Sometimes he feels "gone" and when asked to give training to otherteachers, I just think, "What would Cary say?" and he's alive for me again.We're having a hard time meshing our lives over Skype because he's out thedoor at 8 am (7 pm the previous day for me) and when he is ready to talk at5 pm, it's 4 am for me!

I've learned about right/left, male/female brain tendencies and the role ofadrenaline in the formation of memories -- all since I met Cary. However, hisbasic training help me to daily deal with challenging situations -- not the newbells, whistles, laptops and CDs. It's still nuts and bolts, in this ESOLindustry, and it's still people to people. Cary is a good mentor and hi adviceis timeless.

The point of this presentation is to encourage you to find your Cary or to

contact him yourself. Set up an email pen pal (email pal?) exchange ofcorrespondence. Ask your students to write to his students. He's currently inJapan: bradstow2@yahoo.co.uk

Steve McCrea, Eternally grateful acolyte of the School of Elcome.

If I am pressed to state the visual and active method in a paragraph, I say thefollowing:

I have learned my method from my

students. I do not hold important degrees, like university professors. I am sure that when I give my presentations, people with master's degrees in ESOL will recognize the methods and they will be able to explain why the method works.

I can not explain much about the theory

behind the method, but I respond to my students' needs.

1. For pronunciation, my students don't want to learn a special alphabet.

VisualandActive.com Method -9- BuildingInternationalBridges.com

(IPA), so let's teach "It Sounds Like." PronunciationPatterns.com is anorganized method to use the phonic method by graphing the sound. It is“visual listening.”

2. For tests, many students prefer to make a video. "I don't like towrite" or "I can't spell very well" -- so make an audio recording using adigital camera. The camera does not need to point at the student.

3. Students learn most quickly when they are laughing and when theyare surprised. (See the October 31, 2004 article about novelty).

4. Students learn the things that they want to learn. If they areinterested...they will remember more. So why not let students choose theirsubjects?

5. Let's create projects and homework that are REAL, not justpaperwork. Let's make websites and blogs and write emails -- let's buildbridges. Let's make videos and send the news to other people. (Source:Dennis Littky)

6. We know that some people learn by listening to audio recordings and

others learn by watching videos, so the teacher should have support fromadministration to provide CDs and videos to students. (But if there is nosupport, the teacher can recommend videos on the internet!)

VisualandActive.com Method - 10 - BuildingInternationalBridges.com

That is the central message. I offer a workshop because most teachers don'tbelieve these 6 points or they don't believe that they have the power inthemselves to use this system. Thank you for listening.

Novelty:In a column called “Science Watch” (Sun Sentinel Oct 31, 2004), Sandra Blackeslee(NY Times syndicate) reported that “anything that is novel grabs thebrain’s attention system by tapping directly into reward pathwaysin the brain.” Marketing organizations are interested in thistechnology. “Being able to see how the brain responds to novelty andmakes decisions is potentially a huge step forward for marketers,”according to Tim McParlin, who works for Lieberman Research Worldwide in LosAngeles (quoted in the article).----------------------------------------------The photos that appear in thisdocument come from Suzy Lima’sclass in Curitiba, Brazil. She waslooking for a way to make her ESOLclass more vibrant, and I suggestedan activity that I use (based on theinsights presented by Dennis Littkyin The Big Picture) make itpersona.. Ask the students toperform their understanding. I’m alazy author (I have difficulty matchingcaptions to photos), so I asked thatthe photos include the caption, whichis why the students are holdingpieces of paper. Some captions arein Portuguese to give the reader atranslation of the English and This is a flat world, as Thomaspractice in another language. Go Friedman says, and we need to haveahead, learn something new and more than scholastic success tokeep the brain active and young. prepare for competing in a global economy. See Dan Pink’sMany thanks to the students of Suzy arguments about design. In otherLima. I encourage you, dear reader, words, there are five doors forto send an email message to success (LASSIE): Languages,suzylimab@hotmai.com and ask Academics, Social Skills, Inheritedyour students to send letters to Suzy opportunities and Experience. Weso she can find one of her 789 teachers can’t change what ourstudents to create pen pal students inherit and we know thatcorrespondence. achievement in school is not the only door for success in many students’ lives (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and other entrepreneurs dropped out of

VisualandActive.com Method - 11 - BuildingInternationalBridges.com

school to put their ideas to work). student to help them rememberLet’s encourage our students (and the moment – we hope that themodel the behavior, too) for learning student remembers the grammarmore languages, finding new or vocabulary and not the fact thatexperiences, and developing social you introduced lifelike spiders intoskills. Students who have limited the classroom.inherited opportunities or who dopoorly at traditional schools arepossibly the salvation of oureconomy with their divergent thinkingand creative out-of-the-boxapproaches to problems. Using aVisual and Active method ofteaching with narratives for gradingand testing by exhibition (followingthe model of the Met Center inProvidence, Rhode Island) we canmake our schools into places ofexploration. List of Web Sites FreeEnglishLessons.com PronunciationPatterns.com (graphs that show the stressed syllables) Breakthrough Collaborative.org Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Gatesfoundation.org MetCenter.org BigPicture.org VisualandActive.com TeachersToTeachers.com Supergrammar.com BuildingInternationalBridges.com FindaSmallSchool.com DanPink.comSUMMARY Snopes.com, Number2.comIn case you skipped the article and If you have other suggestions about how to use stuffed animals (novelty)you are reading the end of the and snakes (an adrenaline rush),article, here is the main issue: What please send them to me atdo these two news stories bring to freeenglishlessons@gmail.com orthe ESOL industry (and teachers in SteveEnglishTeacher@hotmail.comgeneral)? We can force the brain I’m on MSN and Skypeawake more often with bright SteveEnglishTeacher and I welcome yourcolors and change of pace (have contact, questions and suggestion.you stood on the furniture lately?)and then you can scare the